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MICHIGAN 




PHILADELPHIA: 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
1891. 




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PHILADELPHIA: 

J. 15. LTPPINCOTT COMPANY. 

1891. 



Copyright, 1891, by J. B. Lippincott Company. 



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MICHIGAN. 



Michigan, one of the northern tier of states of the 
American Union, the seventeenth in area and ninth in 
population, is in 41° 42' to 48° 20' N. lat.. and 82° 25' 
to 90° 32' W. long. It has an area of 58.915 sq. m., 
or more than that of England and Wales; 11 14 sq. 
m. are occupied by 5173 small lakes, while the sur- 
face of 179 islands and islets, from one acre upwards, 
measures about 633. The coast-line in navigable lake 
waters is 1624 miles. The state is bounded on the S. 
by Indiana and Ohio ; on the E. by lake Erie, Detroit 
River (properly Strait), Lake St Clair, St Clair River, 
Lake Huron, and St Mary's River, beyond all which 
lies the province of Ontario, Canada ; on the N. by 
Lake Superior, on the SW. (upper peninsula) by 
Wisconsin, and on the W. by Lake Michigan. From 
its north-western point at the mouth of Montreal 
River to the extreme south-east on Maumee Bay is 
about 500 miles. It is sometimes called the Peninsular 
State, from its formation in two great peninsulas, the 
upper and lower, or northern and southern. The upper 
has an extreme length of 318 and width of 164 miles, 
the lower of 277 and 197 miles; the latter includes 



4 MICHIGAN. 

the Huron Peninsula, or the 'thumb' of the 'mitten,' 
in eastern Michigan, and the small Leelenaw Peninsula 
in the north-west. The eastern part of the other, 
looking toward St Mary's River, is sometimes called 
St Mary's Peninsula. Keweenaw Peninsula, bearing 
the great copper-mines, stretches far north into the 
waters of Lake Superior; and on the south, near 
Mackinac Island, is the little but picturesque St Ignace 
Peninsula. The upper region is mostly rugged, broken, 
rocky, and comparatively barren, though teeming with 
mineral wealth ; but hopeful beginnings of agriculture 
have been made in the eastern half of it. In the 
north-west, near Lake Superior, is the highest land in 
the state, among the hills known as the Porcupine 
Mountains (1830 feet above the sea). The famous 
Mineral range passes south of this, from Keweenaw 
Point south-westward into Wisconsin ; but it is merely 
a gentle swell from both sides, nowhere really moun- 
tainous. No part of the lower peninsula is more than 
1780 feet above sea-level ; and the mean height is only 
160 feet above the environing waters of the lakes. 
The highest part of Detroit is but 73 feet above the 
river at this point, and the uplift of a few feet in the 
adjacent river and lake beds would flood a thousand 
square miles of Michigan soil. This soil is mainly 
formed by the glacial drift, in alternated clay, sand, and 
gravel beds, supplying all the chemical constituents of 
a good soil, and enabling the growth of all crops 
adapted to this climate. The mean annual temperature 
of the state is 46-1° F. (summer, ^Z-^"" ; winter, 23-8°) ; 
the annual rainfall is 35*8 inches. Both peninsulas, 
with occasional exceptions of swamps or small prairies, 



MICHIGAN. 5 

were originally covered with dense forests, the products 
of which have proved exceedingly valuable. The 
geology of the state is highly interesting ; it represents 
every rock series known, from the oldest strata to the 
top of the Carboniferous. In the west of the upper pen- 
insula, on the Wisconsin border, are the Laurentian, 
and on either side and eastward the Huronian forma- 
tions, in which are the great deposits of iron ore. The 
Mineral range is of eruptive or volcanic rock, with 
older strata tilted upon its sides. Farther eastward 
are the long belts of the Lower Silurian, curving from 
Green Bay through the St Mary's Peninsula. The 
lower peninsula is compared, geologically, to a nest 
of wooden dishes. Its centre is a coal-bearing area of 
about 5000 sq. m., carrying, however, comparatively 
little coal of economic value in workable place and 
shape; though 58,099 tons were raised in 1889. In 
succession beyond, and in mighty sweeps around the 
central tract, are the upturned edges of other Carbonif- 
erous strata, then the Devonian formations, and finally 
the Lower Helderberg group of the Silurian. In the 
Michigan salt group are the rich brine wells of the 
Saginaw valley ; in the Marshall or Waverley are the 
Huron grindstones, quarried on the shore of Lake 
Huron; and other groups yield valuable mineral 
products. 

The output of salt for 1889 was 5,950,000 barrels, 
the number of wells 254. In salt and timber Michigan 
leads the United States, and in iron and copper the 
world. The great Calumet and Hecla copper-mines, 
the largest operated, with perhaps one exception, are 
on the Keweenaw Peninsula. The total copper output 



6 MICHIGAN. 

of 1889 was 43,613 tons, of a quality nowhere sur- 
passed, and for certain purposes unequalled. In the 
same year 5,829,828 long tons of iron ore were mined, 
mainly in Marquette county. Some gold is found in 
the upper peninsula, and silver and lead in small 
amounts. Gypsum appears in immense deposits at 
Grand Rapids, in the lower peninsula, where 19,823 
tons of land-plaster and 206,380 barrels of stucco were 
produced in 1889. Building-stones abound in both 
peninsulas, and in the upper there are also statuary 
and other marbles, and such ornamental stones as 
agates, jasper, chalcedony, chlorastolites, and others. 
Glass sand is found in the extreme south-east of the 
state; and lime, brick, tiles, and the like are made 
easily and cheaply in many parts. Of the many 
mineral springs nineteen have become popular resorts, 
and the waters of four have a commercial value. 

Lumbering is the second great industrial interest 
of the state. The forests of northern Michigan are 
mostly pine, much of it, as the cork pine, of superior 
quality and greatly in demand ; and for many years 
the lumber product has been enormous. In 1888 it 
was: lumber, 4,197,741,224 feet; shingles, 2, 560,930,- 
250. In places, however, this industry is beginning 
to decline, from the extensive destruction of the forests. 
Other leading manufactories, in order, are grist-mills, 
foundries and machine-shops, iron and steel works, 
and those of agricultural implements and of furniture. 
But agriculture remains the chief industry, employing 
about half the population. This is one of the greatest 
wheat states, its average yield per acre igYz bushels. 
The next most important crops are maize, oats, and 



MICHIGAN. 



barley; and in the * fruit belt,' a narrow strip of about 
200 miles in length on the west shore of Lake 
Michigan, peaches, plums, grapes, and other fruits are 
grown in great quantity. It is the fourth state in the 
Union for wool, of which 1 1 ,898,047 lb. were marketed 
in 1888. 

The commerce of the state is very great, and is pro- 
moted by three ship-canals — one among the shallows 
at the head of Lake St Clair, another near the head 
of St Mary's River, at the Sault de Ste Marie, and 
another on the Keweenaw Peninsula, known as the 
Portage Lake Canal. For the year ending June 30, 
1889, the imports at Detroit amounted to ;^3,oo2,557; 
domestic exports, ;^5,922,664 ; foreign exports, ^9,223. 
There are three other ports of entry, at Port Huron, 
Grand Haven, and Marquette. The railways in the 
state have about 8000 miles of track, and reach nearly 
every one of the eighty-four counties. Popular and 
higher education has been liberally developed, and 
the illiterates form only 4 per cent, of the population. 
Besides the state university at Ann Arbor, there are 
nine denominational colleges, a state normal school at 
Ypsilanti, a mining-school at Marquette; the agri- 
cultural, the school for the blind, and refbrm school 
for boys at Lansing ; the deaf and dumb institute at 
Flint, an industrial home for girls at Adrian, and a 
school for neglected and dependent children at Cold- 
water. Other principal state charities are four asylums 
for the insane, an asylum for insane criminals, and the 
Soldiers' Home at Grand Rapids. There are state 
prisons at Jackson and Marquette, and houses of 
correction at Detroit, Marquette, and Ionia. 



3 MICHIGAN. 

History. — The Michigan country was probably vis- 
ited by Jean Nicolet in 1634, at the Sault de Ste 
Marie, where the first permanent white settlement was 
made by Father Marquette in 1668 for a Jesuit mission. 
Detroit was founded in 1701 by a French colony 
under Cadillac. The country passed to the English 
in 1760, and to the United States in 1796; it was 
again occupied by Great Britain in 181 2, but was 
recovered by the Americans the next year. It formed 
a part of the North-west territory, erected in 1787; 
became a part of the Indiana territory in 1802, was 
organised as Michigan territory in 1805, and admitted 
as a state in 1837. Pop. (1800) 551 ; (1840) 212,267; 
(1880) 1,636,937, including 7249 Indians; (1890) 2,089,- 
792. Detroit (205,699) has remained the chief city 
from the beginning; Grand Rapids (64,147) is second, 
and Saginaw (46,169) third. Other cities, in order of 
population, are Bay City, Jackson, Muskegon, Kala- 
mazoo, Port Huron, Lansing (the capital), Battle Creek, 
West Bay City, Manistee, Ishpeming, Menominee, 
Flint, Ann Arbor, Adrian, &c. See J. M. Cooley, 
Michigan i^o'sX.o^, 1885). 



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